


Soft Waters

by Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Filling in places when you need them the most, M/M, angsty angst, slight sexual content, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 00:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12805605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-
Summary: On a certain day, Cor Leonis finds himself knocking on a royal retainer's front door.WoR-set pile of angst. Cor/Ignis with background Ignoct and Cor/Regis





	Soft Waters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dawne-Sharlotte (bmsaangel16)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmsaangel16/gifts).



> This was very much written for Dawne-Sharlotte! Sorry it ended up being more angsty than originally intended.

Few people would have trekked into the back alleys of Lestallum toward the small homes canopied under the constant halo of fluorescent light. It was one of the only houses that was hidden in the shadow, something that Cor knew was both fitting and deeply unsettling. The man who resided there deserved more than the darkness, but... He took what was given, and Cor knew better than to question it. He was, after all, lucky that he was allowed to even visit.

It had been months, but Ignis had yet to leave the confines of his own prison, set up under the lights from the nearby power plant. Why he had chosen that spot, Cor didn't even want to think about. He knew that he had, on more than one occasion, overheard the whispers of what some of the townspeople called 'the ghost,' the ethereal being that slunk through the shadows, barely casting its own. Even in the light, he could blend into the shadow.

Cor wondered if it had something to do with the false warmth from the lights above, or whether or not Ignis could see the faint glow, like a memory just out of reach.

It was best not to ask, and Ignis never offered up an explanation of his own, anyway.

The door was shut, curtains drawn, but Cor knew that Ignis preferred it that way. Even if he couldn't see the world outside his little cottage, Cor knew that Ignis would wonder who was watching him, whose eyes were glued against his neck that he could not see.

Paranoia. It was something Cor knew, just like the anger and loathing in his own belly.

But today...

It was best to not leave Ignis on his own on this day.

Cor took a deep breath in before letting his knuckles rap against the front door.

Silence.

Once upon a time, Lestallum had been a loud city, a city of perpetual commotion and movement.

It was almost as much a husk as Insomnia was—

No. I was best not to dwell on the city with sleep, the city of dreamless nights and pained days.

When no one answered, Cor tapped on the wooden door again, listening carefully for the telltale slide of a chair or feet against the floor. But, just as before, Cor heard nothing. Not even a breath nor a whisper.

Silence.

Cor knew that it wasn't his place, that his own home collecting cobwebs and dust was on the other side of town, but he knew that he needed to open the door. Even if Ignis didn't want his help, as he always told Cor.

Ignis was there, just as Cor knew he would be. There was an uneaten slice of toast, long cold and collecting a strange sheen to the margarine, on the table. A jar of berry jam was overturned with its contents spilled out across table, long forgotten and congealing.

And Ignis?

"Ignis?"

There was a sniffle, one that Cor knew just from sound. Cor felt himself sigh as he looked around in the dim light. He knew where Ignis was—the bedroom.

There were a few lamps in the house, only for the handful of those who would occasionally stop in to check on whether or not Ignis was still alive. Cor took that moment to unload his bag onto the table, not caring that it ended up in the mess of jam. He could clean it up later.

"Ignis—I can hear you."

"Yes, Marshal. I am well aware. I'm blind, not deaf."

There was a stuffiness and congestion to Ignis's voice, but Cor could still feel the barbed brush of something he knew not to point out.

He looked... Bad. That was the only word the came to Cor's mind as he looked up at Ignis's scarred face, blotchy from illness and exhaustion. There was a dullness to his pallid skin and a sheen, very near the same look as the margarine on forgotten toast, across his brown. His nose was bright pink and sat rather undignified in the middle of the man's face, though he defiantly wiped at it with another tissue.

"You look tired."

"As I clearly cannot look in the mirror, I will merely take your word for it."

"And you sound as angry as always."

Ignis sighed, lifting his hand to cover his face. "Frustrated, perhaps. Slighted, maybe. But I would hardly use the term _angry_."

"Ignis."

Just his name was enough to rouse Ignis, and despite the fact that Ignis could no longer see he was still able to give quite the disinterested and pointed glare.

"Angry is for..." Ignis sighed, letting his hand fall to his side.

"Noctis wouldn't want you to be angry."

Ignis winced. "If you would kindly not talk about him at the moment—"

But Cor knew this was like ripping off a bandaid, and the faster it was done, the better off Ignis would feel. "Noctis wouldn't want you to pine away in bed, mourning him."

"I am hardly pining," Ignis interrupted, but Cor only raised his voice slightly.

"You and I both know better than that, Ignis." Cor lowered his voice as he slowly walked forward, closer to Ignis's bed. "You know that I understand, better than most."

Ignis was young, but Ignis had experienced much in his life. The loss of Noctis to the Crystal, the loss of Insomnia, the loss of his King…

"When I was younger than you are now, I lose my first king. And then, later, I lost my second."

"Marshal, if you are expecting to somehow compare our pain, I am keenly aware—"

"That I loved Regis, just as you love Noctis?"

Ignis paused, his mouth pulling into a trembling line. The pale brown hair across his unshaven cheek seemed to be in such contrast with his pale, almost ghostly, skin. "Cor, please—" There was a desperation to his tone that Cor knew. He knew it far too well. "If you have come here to fight with me, I beg of you. Wait until tomorrow. I am tired enough as it is today."

"I'm not here to fight."

And he truly wasn't. Instead, Cor slipped off his shoes, taking care to kick them under the bed. He knew that Ignis was well-equipped to walk around his home, but the less obstacles in his way the better. He made his way slowly toward the bed, taking care as he sunk down into the mattress.

Cor reached forward, letting his finger trail across the bridge of Ignis's nose, then to his cheek. His hands were callused, far more than Noctis's had ever been, but Ignis still leaned into his touch.

"I would never fault you for your feelings, Ignis. I came here because I know that and accept that burden. Let me help you, just as you have helped me in my times of trial and tribulation."

"Cor..." Ignis let out a shuddering breath, and Cor watched as the mask crumbled underneath his touch.

"I cannot take your burdens from you, Ignis. I can not carry you, and you have too much pride to even let me try."

Ignis's face was shaking. Cor was gently as he slowly leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Ignis's. "But that means that you must carry yourself. You must be strong enough for not just yourself, but for your king."

Ignis drew in a sharp breath. "It's foolish—"

"Be that as it may. They are your feelings, and there is nothing that can be done about your feelings other than accepting them. You can't turn back time. You can't sit in the silence and mourn."

Cor could feel it almost like he had the night Insomnia fell, when he felt his magic disappear into the void that was death. It felt like the air had left him, like the Gods had abandoned him. And they had.

Just as they had abandoned Ignis.

"He will return to you one day. Perhaps it is not today, but he will. You must give it time. If you don't, you'll just die."

"Rather cold," Ignis commented. 

"The truth, though. You and I both know it."

They sat in the dressed silence for a few more minutes, basking in the emptiness. The only sound that greeted them was the ever-present hum of the electrical generations that powered the city. 

"Any issues with the meteorshard collection?"

Cor hummed. "They said that they found some out in Cleigne. I'm heading out tomorrow to see if we can bring some back."

"Would you need another set of hands?"

"You asking to drive?" 

"Oh, absolutely. I'm sure you'll be blind-sided by my parallel parking."

Cor couldn't contain the laugh that caught itself in his throat, but when Ignis only smiled, he allowed it to become a full-blown chuckle.

"You laugh now, but I assure you—my parking is second to none. It is unseemly to mock me." But the pull at the corner of Ignis's lips belied his words.

Cor didn't stop himself when he leaned forward, letting his breath ghost over Ignis's mouth. It wasn't the first time, not even the hundredth, but for today...

Maybe it was best to not kiss Ignis. Not today. Not... Not when Ignis was still mourning his King.

"You can, if you'd like."

His words were soft, almost nothing but hot breath and desire, 

"I think that wouldn't be good for you. And it won't be good for me, either."

It was an unspoken thing, what happened between the two of them. Cor was not foolish nor young enough to believe that Ignis loved him. Their relationship was one that Cor understood on a fundamental level—the two men who were left behind by their Kings, who had sacrificed everything but their lives to the Gods who gave nothing but death and destruction back. There was passion, yes. But there was just as much pain, just as much desperation and desire and anguish as it was human touch and comfort and things that Cor didn't know the word for but understood on a cellular level.

"I... If you would? Perhaps it isn't good, but..."

Ignis didn't need to say the rest, because Cor understood.

He really did.

It was soft when Cor knew Ignis wanted it harsh, sweet when he wanted it bitter. 

It was better this way. It was what Ignis needed, if not wanted. And cor knew him just as he knew himself, just as he understood the feelings that were rolling in his own stomach.

This hadn't been the plan when he knocked on Ignis's door. What he wanted was to drag the man out of bed and past the stale, cold breakfast. He wanted to show Ignis that though there was fading light, though the sky was cool and the world was harsh and unforgiving, there was hope. 

There had to be hope. 

"If you'd like... I can take you there."

Ignis let go of a breath he seemed to have forgotten.

"If you're sure." 

"I'm sure."

Ignis refused to allow Cor to help him with his clothing; he was far too proud, and though the blindness was still rather new, Ignis had become accustomed to the darkness faster than any others.

"We've got a little while until the sun is completely gone. I'll drive you up... we'll go see him, together."

"Thank you, Cor."

"You don't need to thank me, Ignis."

Cor cleaned the jam and threw away what was left of the toast Ignis hadn't bothered to try to eat. When Cor offered to cool something for the trip, Ignis only shook his head before reaching for his cane. 

It was surprising to see Ignis wince when they exited the city, though he knew it was from the cold.

"Wish I could turn on the heater," Cor murmured as he reached back, pulling out a few of the blankets. "We don't want to be wasting gas right now." 

But Ignis didn't complain as he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, stubborning resisting the urge to shiver.

The trip was both long and taxing, but they managed to find their way to Galdin Quay before the last streaks of sun were eaten by the night sky.

"Can you... Can you lead me to the dock?"

Ignis's hand shook until Cor clasped it between his own.

"Of course I will. Let's go, Ignis... your king awaits."

They sat by the dock feet lazily drifting across the cold water until the sky and sea were the same color. Ignis stared out into the ocean, his eyes seeing nothing, but drinking in it all anyway. 

"Do you think you can see him?" Cor asked as he rubbed Ignis's back.

"No..." 

 _But I can feel him_.

Cor closed his eyes and listened to the darkness, and though he could feel Ignis's warmth, in the silence and stillness...

Cor knew he could feel Regis, too.

"I'm sure he can see you."

"Happy birthday, Noct..."

Cor allowed himself to lean forward, pressing a closed-mouth kiss to Ignis's mouth. 

Ignis kissed back, and the wind sang a soft song against the waters.


End file.
